Anti-Indian Leader Comes to Skagit County, Rally Called to Support Tribal Rights

A leading national anti-Indian activist is headed to Skagit County – and supporters of tribal and human rights are rallying to expose her bigotry and stand with Indian Nations. Elaine Willman will speak Saturday, May 20th at a meeting in Sedro Woolley hosted by the Skagit County Citizens Alliance for Property Rights. The Skagit County Republican Party and KGMI radio host Kris Halterman are also promoting the event.

Elaine Willman is a longtime leader of the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance (CERA), a Wisconsin-based group that seeks to terminate tribes and abrogate treaties between Indian Nations and the United States. Willman calls tribal sovereignty a “tiresome myth” that was “nullified by the U.S. Constitution” and asserts that “[T]he federal government should no longer be honoring treaties with its own citizens.” Both statements are at odds with the U.S. Constitution and long-standing Supreme Court precedent.

From Citizens Equal Rights Alliance conference poster

“CERA and Elaine Willman would gut the Constitution and end tribal nationhood in the United States,” said Chuck Tanner of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights (IREHR). “It is no surprise that Willman and CERA ally with the likes of the John Birch Society and Tea Party movement.”

The host organization is a chapter of the Enumclaw-based Citizens Alliance for Property Rights (CAPR), which seeks to curtail environmental regulations. CAPR Executive Director Glen Morgan attended a 2013 CERA conference in Bellingham, while Willman was listed as a speaker at CAPR events in 2016 and 2017.

“The vicious attack on our indigenous culture, land, sovereignty, and way of life has always been a tool of the colonizer so they can obtain access to resources,” said Michelle Vendiola of the Red Line Salish Sea. “These anti-Indian organizers serve as a reminder that settler colonialism is alive and well in the current U.S. and Indian Country.”

Red Line Salish Sea (formerly Bellingham #NoDAPL Coalition) is organizing a “Stand Up Against Hate!” rally to oppose CAPR and Willman’s anti-Indian event. The rally will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 at 221 Central Ave in Sedro-Woolley.

Contact:

Michelle Vendiola
Red Line Salish Sea
redlinesalishsea@gmail.com

Chuck Tanner
Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights
ctanner@irehr.org